January 27, 2003

Haredi Canadian mystery donor
seeks to counter Shinui

By Tovah Lazaroff

An anonymous haredi Canadian donor is funding a last-minute campaign against Shinui, urging religious voters to support religious parties, according to David Zilbershlag, who heads the Jerusalem public relations firm Connections.

Speaking to The Jerusalem Post Sunday, Zilbershlag said that as of Thursday he had circulated thousands of posters and fliers , mainly in the center of the country, with the slogan "Only a strong religious vote will prevent a secular government."

The campaign, headed by his firm at the request of the anonymous Canadian, is independent and not connected to any party, Zilbershlag said.

Spokesman for both Shas and the National Religious Party said they knew no details about the campaign and that they had not been consulated or contacted by anyone connected to it.

On Sunday, Labor Party secretary-general Ophir Pines-Paz asked Supreme Court Justice Mishael Cheshin, who chairs the Central Elections Committee, to declare the campaign illegal because it is not being carried out by a recognized party.

CEC spokesman Giora Pordes said he could not comment on the legality of the campaign, adding that such a question would be determined at a legal hearing. He said a time for the hearing had yet to be set.

Zilbershlag said the request to Cheshin was positive in that it is giving the campaign added publicity.

He said he could not at this time reveal the name of the donor. But he said the individual, who is haredi, was motivated by fear of Shinui's refusal to join a coalition with haredi parties.

Initially, the thought was to specifically attack Shinui and its leader, Yosef (Tommy) Lapid, but that plan was abandoned for fear it would spark a hate campaign. Instead a decision was made to come out with a positive message, simply urging religious voters to strengthen religious parties, Zilbershlag said.

In particular, the campaign hopes to target the national religious voters, because polls show that 60 percent of them have not voted for religious parties in the past. Should they heed the call to support religious parties, the party mostly likely to benefit is the NRP, Zilbershlag said.

He added that he hoped it would return power to the religious parties in the same way that many speculate the "Netanyahu is good for the Jews" campaign helped former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu win the 1996 election.

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